Has anybody ditched their oem haedlights for a conversion kit? If so what kind? Do the new units have replacable bulbs versus the sealed beam's? I found these:

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/P...002824/c-10101

Do they look good? I am looking for a more modern headlamp with a clear lens, replacable bulbs, and brghter light, would I still need relays to make them brighter? If you increase the power does it shorten the filament life?

P.S. I read the sticky, (after I posted ) Should I stay with sealed beams? Are the silver stars the best choice? Any advice? Think of me as a lump of clay to mold with all of your 1st gen wisdom!

 

I haven't had a chance to do the "relay" upgrade yet but I will. I am going to try to find a set off sealed beam Hellas which a friend of mine had in his ferd. Man those things were VERY bright and I could only imagine how much brighter they would be with the relay's. The only downfall that I found is that the lights are over $40 a piece if I remember correctly.

Ryan

 

Just do the relays. Brighter lights AND saves the switch. Then get better sealed beams and you will wonder how two simple upgrades can add up to such a huge difference.

Just another example where the whole really is greater than the sum of the parts.

 

Do the relays before its too late, Dodge really must have had their head somewhere it shouldn't have been when they designed the headlamp wiring on these trucks.

 

I built a relay harness for my 91 cherokee (takes the same size lights as our trucks and has the same wimpy undersized wiring). When AMC made these jeeps they had reasonably heavy wire running to the lights, when chrysler re-designed them in 91 they cut it way back. I used a couple of bosch relays , bought some healight socket/plugs online, and cut up a 12g extension cord to make the harness. www.rallylights.com has lots of good stuff.

I am also running Autopal (from ebay) bulb holders instead of sealed beams. I have the E-code versions as I preffer them to DOT style. I run 80/100 watt (vs 55/65 that sealed beams come in) bulbs and really like them. With the E-code housings I have never been flashed by anyone thinking my lights were to bright.

Andy

 

I did the real thing a while back and I even crossed the wires in the steering column so the low stays on with the high. I'm running the Silver Star head lamps and they work very well. They are about $20 each at Advance.

 

Ditto. He just wired mine in to toggle switches, cause 3 dodge switches and a burnt wiring harness later was enough.

 

andyr354,

Andy, could you give part # and addresses to get them. I have fumble fingers on E-Bay. Thanks, Mike

(I am also running Autopal (from ebay) bulb holders instead of sealed beams. I have the E-code versions as I preffer them to DOT style. I run 80/100 watt (vs 55/65 that sealed beams come in) bulbs and really like them. With the E-code housings I have never been flashed by anyone thinking my lights were to bright.)

 

So far, I have done my Ford and the wife's Dodge with the relays.

Her Dodge has Wagner Halogens and my Ford has Sylvania Silverstars, both sealed beams.

Either truck is as good as it gets for night-time driving.

I considered the possibility of swapping to the permanent lens housing and the seperate bulb business; but, all the CONs of a set-up like that convinced me to simply go with premium sealed beams.

I see lots of near-new vehicles that have lenses so faded and hazy as to be a complete eyesore, let alone cutting down on light output.

While, on the other hand, there are seven trucks out here, everyone with sealed beams, many of the bulbs over twenty years old, and every last bulb is as clear as the day it was bought.

I also see numerous vehicles with water sloshing around inside the lenses, enough to keep a goldfish happy.

If I get a sealed beam broken, I can pick one up anywhere, even on weekends after midnight.

Try finding one of those custom conversion lens in stock anywhere, without having to order and wait for UPS.

Just my two cents.

 

The thing that we don't think of is that all of the newer headlights are no longer made of glass. They are made of plastic(or derivitives of). With this and normal daily driving the lenses get sandblaster with dust and stuff. The lenses haze and you have a loss of light do to a hazed/yellowed lens.

With the factory style seal beams they are using a glass front lens that can take the abuse of the daily drive.

The seal beam bulbs cost a bit more then the replacement seperate bulbs, but take into account that when we change a headlight, we are changing the whole assembly. In my opinion we have the best of both worlds.

If this lighting is still not good enough for you, after you have done the headlight relay fix, then there is always the option of additional lighting added to the truck.

HTH

Glenn

 

You will be amazed with the quality of light by just doing the relays and using your existing bulbs.

The factory headlight wires are way too small for the lights to function at their best, especially the tiny grounds.



YES, lights will not last as long; BUT, the trade-off is worth it.

 

I also had bought a pair of the Autopal 6054 lamps from E-bay and I modified my headlight buckets to accept the connector in the back but after I installed them and ran them for one night I took them off and reinstalled my SilverStars, they are much brighter.

The Autopal's have a very flat cutoff like all of the newer vehicles have and have a nice controlled beam but the SilverStars just put out brute force light, I can light up objects over a block away on the high beams with bluish white light.

With the Autopal’s you can park against a wall and there is a very definite horizontal line of light from the centerline and down but anything above that line is dark.

The oncoming cars will love you but they are not much for seeing far away like you were on a dark mountain road.

I have my lamps controlled with 1 relay for each filament, the only problem I have with my system is the lamps only last between 6 to 8 months before they burn out. Although I think the problem has more to do with vibration than the current I am driving them with.

I had to build a voltage regulator to drop the voltage at the relay to 14.0 volts, my alternator will hold a steady 15.0 volts at the lamps and was shortening the life dramatically but they were really bright.

I had e-mailed OSRAM/ Sylvania and tried to get some specifications on the lamps and they told me the maximum voltage was 14.0 volts.

Napa has some headlights the guy behind the counter says they are supposed to an equivalent to the SS but I will have to check them out, the color temperature is higher so they will be bluer in color.

I have a bunch of SilverStar headlamps in my garage that have only high beams working on them. I need to find some use for these.

HID Xenon lamps are my next lighting project. I have seen these up to 8000*K

Jim

 

Why do you want to blind oncoming drivers with blue lights????
Check out http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...blue/blue.html
these two articles explain the myth of blue lamps. Seeing distance is a function of the optics . . .
BTW . . GE HO Halogens last much longer than Silverstars if you want sealed beams . . plus they are WHITE & cheaper.

 

AGREED !!

The only truck I have driven with farther reaching lights than the SilverStars is my old ROUND-lighted 78 K-20 Chevy with, believe it or not, the original 1978 issue NON-halogen lights, those lights will make the blacktop smoke, if you sit still in one place too long.

 

I have the conversion housings in my Ramcharger. They are not cheap ones off ebay, but rather some nice units made by Hella. They are quite brite with just regular bulbs. I put in some silver stars about 6 months later and they got better yet. The Hella ones are better then the ebay crap I had in my onld 85, but they cost more. I would do it over again the same way if I had to.